Art passion spawns mural club

The Mural Club organized students to paint murals for the community at the King Day of Service and Leadership in January.

As a high school stu­dent in New Jersey, Bianca Smith recalls orga­nizing the art club to paint a mural at a nearby day­care, and the expe­ri­ence spawned a new pas­sion. Now a third-​​year stu­dent at North­eastern Uni­ver­sity, Smith wants to con­tinue that com­mu­nity spirit on campus.

“I was talking with my room­mates last year, and I kept saying, ‘Just watch. There’s going to be a mural club,’” Smith recalls.

Smith began orga­nizing the club last year, and started a Face­book page that has gen­er­ated increased interest. But the group’s efforts reached a pin­nacle on the Day of Ser­vice and Lead­er­ship coin­ciding with Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday in Jan­uary, as the mem­bers came out to paint murals to be deliv­ered to public schools in Boston.

“It was really cool to see people excited about what was just a dream to me last year,” Smith said. She is cur­rently working to get her group offi­cially rec­og­nized as a stu­dent orga­ni­za­tion. The club would con­tinue Northeastern’s com­mit­ment to nur­turing pride in the sur­rounding com­mu­nity, she said, and poten­tially spark local youths’ interest in art, should they see a bright mural in the hallway of their ele­men­tary school one day.

More and more stu­dents at North­eastern are demon­strating that same drive. The number of new stu­dent orga­ni­za­tions being cre­ated has increased sig­nif­i­cantly in the last three years, and there are now about 280 groups on campus, said Jason Foster, Northeastern’s director of stu­dent activities.

“We really look to make sure stu­dent orga­ni­za­tions, when they are rec­og­nized, have a broad appeal and the ability to be long lasting,” Foster said. “We wel­come all types of orga­ni­za­tions. Our objec­tive is to enhance stu­dent life, and rec­og­nize and accept that all stu­dent orga­ni­za­tions have that same role on campus. The more groups we have that appeal to more people and gen­erate stu­dent involve­ment, the better. That’s our main goal when it comes to starting new stu­dent groups.”

Throughout the aca­d­emic year, Northeastern’s Office of Campus Activ­i­ties hosts numerous work­shops, which stu­dents are required to attend as the first step toward starting new orga­ni­za­tions. There, they learn all the basics and receive tips about get­ting stu­dent groups started.

From there, stu­dents must find a fac­ulty advisor, write an orga­ni­za­tion pro­posal, and submit a list of mem­bers and let­ters of sup­port prior to the offi­cial review process.

About the Writer

Greg St. Martin is the senior editor for news@Northeastern. He joined Northeastern in March 2010 after working at a Boston newspaper for six years. Outside the office, he enjoys playing basketball, basking in the glory of finding great parking spots, and listening to the comic genius of Steven Wright. Follow on Twitter: @gstmartinNU

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